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Precision Rifle Tech for Hunting- Mounts and first shots

Now that the rifle is complete, it is time to select the scope mounts and hit the range. As we know at Warne, one of the most overlooked components of a rifle is the scope mounting base. Since this rifle is intended to be versatile, and able to handle different shooting scenarios with ease, a Mountain Tech rail in 20MOA was selected. The reasons for using the Warne Mountain Tech rail are as follows. Mountain tech rails are machined from 7075 T6 aluminum and Hardcoat anodized, this means the rail will be very lightweight, but will still be able to handle the rigors of hard use while being completely corrosion resistant. It also features plated screws that have a slight taper, this ensures there will be no play when the base is tightened to the rifle. This rifle is not intended to be a precision long range rifle, but a 20MOA base was selected so it could have that capability if needed. Paired with the correct scope, this rifle is still easily zeroed at 100 yards.

Paired with the rail are a set of Warne Mountain Tech rings. These rings are the perfect complement to a precision hunting rifle, As the thought behind the Mountain Tech line of rings was to provide a lightweight, rugged, stylish ring that would perform equally well on precision or hunting rifles. For the initial range trip, the scope that is being used is a Sig Tango 6 5-30x. While that seems like a very high powered scope for a hunting rifle, keep in mind that this scope was just being used to test group size, and will not be the final scope used on this project.

The first range trip included a barrel break in, and while it is debated whether this is needed or not, it certainly does not hurt anything. For the first 5 rounds, the rifle was cleaned between shots. After the first few cleanings, patches are checked for excess copper, and in this case there were no issues so further break-in is not likely needed. Using Hornady 140gr. ELD Match ammo, the rifle was tested for a single 3 shot group (yes, 3 shots are 2 shots short of a group, and 5 shot groups will be used once the final scope is installed). This group was shot as proof that the rifle is functioning properly, and that the components selected for the build are playing nice together. 20 rounds total were fired for the day, and the amazing thing was that even during the break in procedure where the rifle was being cleaned between shots, there was never a group that was over 1MOA. Based on the 3 shot group, this rifle is going to be a shooter.